Appeal clears Bashir of treason

Jakarta's high court has cleared radical Indonesian Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir of treason but upheld other charges and reduced his sentence from four to three years' imprisonment, a court spokesman said yesterday.

A Jakarta lower court ruled in September that Bashir, accused of being the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah militant network, at least knew the group existed and convicted him of treason and other charges.

The appellate court, in a ruling announced yesterday, overturned the treason conviction but upheld charges of forging documents and violating immigration laws, the spokesman said.